Macroinvertebrates and Bioassessment: Using Biological Indicators to Measure Stream Health Caitlin Chaffee URI Cooperative Extension

Presentation Outline  Measuring Human Impacts  Biological Monitoring  Macroinvertebrates as Indicators  Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity  Macroinvertebrate Sampling Methods  Common Macroinvertebrates

Measuring Human Impacts Changes in land use affect watershed resources: Changes in hydrology Changes in water quality Changes in stream morphology Changes in stream ecology

Measuring Human Impacts Increased development = Increased Impervious Surface

40% evapotranspiration38% evapotranspiration 10% runoff 20% runoff 25% shallow infiltration 21% shallow infiltration 25% deep infiltration 21% deep infiltration Natural Ground Cover 10 – 20% Impervious Surface Effects of Development on site Hydrology *Percentages are estimates

35% evapotranspiration30% evapotranspiration 30% runoff 55% runoff 20% shallow infiltration 10% shallow infiltration 15% deep infiltration 5% deep infiltration 35–50% Impervious Surface75—100% Impervious Surface Effects of Development on site Hydrology *Percentages are estimates

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??? More runoff in a shorter amount of time DEVELOPED Higher overall and peak volume Shorter time to peak flow UNDEVELOPED Smaller volume, lower peak Longer time to peak flow Hydrologic Response: Developed vs. Undeveloped Conditions Runoff Volume (Q) Time

The Results Flooding Stream bank erosion Stream channel widening and deepening Lower base flows Sedimentation More pollutant inputs

Flooding

Stream Bank Erosion

Channel Widening and Deepening

Lower Base Flows

Sedimentation

Increased Pollutant Inputs

Changes to Water Quality Temperature pH Dissolved Oxygen BOD Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) Turbidity Pathogens Heavy metals Petroleum based compounds

biological indicator: groups or types of biological resources that can be used to assess environmental condition. biological monitoring: the study of organisms and their responses to environmental condition biological assessment: an evaluation of the biological condition of a water body using biological monitoring data and other direct measurements of resident biota in surface waters Measuring Human Impacts

Biological Integrity “the ability to support and maintain a balanced, integrated, and adaptive community of organisms having a species composition, diversity and functional organization comparable to those of natural habitats within a region" † † (Karr,1981) “the ability to support and maintain a balanced, integrated, and adaptive community of organisms having a species composition, diversity and functional organization comparable to those of natural habitats within a region" † † (Karr,1981)

Wood River

Great candidates for biological monitoring… Benthic Macroinvertebrates Heptageniidae sp. (Mayfly larva) Hydropsyche sp. (Caddisfly larva) Perlodidae sp. (Stonefly larva) (bottom-dwelling)(animals w/o backbones visible to naked eye) (bottom-dwelling) (animals w/o backbones visible to naked eye)

Macroinvertebrates as Indicators Limited migration patterns–good indicators of localized conditions and site-specific impacts Integrate effects of human impacts Easy to sample and identify Broad range of habitat requirements and sensitivities to pollution

Human Impacts on Macroinvertebrate Communities Changes to water chemistry / water quality parameters Changes to habitat type

Characterizing Macroinvertebrates Feeding habits (“functional feeding groups”) Tolerance to Pollution

FFGExamplesDietCharacteristics Predators Dragonflies, damselflies, stoneflies Other insectsToothy jaws, larger in size Shredders Stoneflies, beetles, caddisflies CPOM, leaves, woody debris Streamlined, flat Grazers / Scrapers Mayflies, caddisflies, true flies, beetles Periphyton, diatoms Scraping mandibles Gathering Collectors Mayflies, worms, midges, crayfish FPOM, settled particles, bacteria Filtering hairs, hemoglobin Filtering Collectors Black flies, net- spinning caddisflies, mayflies FPOM, phytoplankton, floating particles Some build cases (caddisflies)

Functional Feeding Groups: The River Continuum (Vannote et al., 1980) CPOM FPOM STREAM ORDERSTREAM ORDER Relative Channel Width HEADWATERS: Shredders abundant Coarse POM MID-REACHES: Grazers abundant Higher 1° production LARGE RIVERS: Collectors abundant Fine-Ultra fine POM

The Tolerance Index most pollution sensitive e.g. Stoneflies 010 most pollution tolerant e.g. Midges & Leeches require high DO, clear water, rocky cobble substrate contain hemoglobin, tolerate lower DO, prefer soft substrate, less sensitive to toxins

Stonefly Water Penny Beetle Mayfly Dobsonfly Alderfly Mussel Snipe Fly Riffle Beetle Macroinvertebrates as Indicators Pollution Sensitive (“Clean Water”) Benthos

Macroinvertebrates as Indicators Blackfly Caddisfly Isopod Cranefly Damselfly Dragonfly Crayfish Amphipod Somewhat Pollution Tolerant Benthos

Macroinvertebrates as Indicators Pouch Snail Midgefly Worm Leech Pollution Tolerant (“Polluted Water”) Benthos

Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (B-IBI) Index based on macroinvertebrate samples that integrates several metrics to produce an overall “health score” for a given water body Result: dose-response curves to human impact Human Impact IBI Score e.g. Taxa richness, relative abundance of certain taxa, feeding groups e.g. Pollution, habitat degradation, flow alteration Generalized Plot of B-IBI Scores vs. Human Impact

EPA’s Suggestions for IBI Use † Nonpoint Source Pollution Assessment Watershed Protection TMDL Process NPDES Permitting Ecological Risk Assessment Development of Water Quality Criteria and Standards Can IBI’s be successfully implemented in these programs? These are suggestions…Can IBI’s be successfully implemented in these programs? † Barbour et al., 1999

Macroinvertebrate Sampling: The Basics Identify the goal – How will the data be used? –Regulatory purposes –Detect trends –Screening purposes –Educational programs The goal should guide your sample design and dictate your methods

Macroinvertebrate Sampling: The Basics Site selection (including reference site) Site assessment Organism collection and preservation –Standardize habitat type –Standardize sampling method –Dip net or sampler Identification –Sample size –Fixed-count subsamples vs. “whole samples” Calculation –Select metrics –Calculate IBI score –Compare to reference score

Example Method: Rapid Bioassessment Protocol Sampled three 1m 2 sections of stream reach (riffle habitat) with dip net Subsample size: 100 organisms Preserved and identified organisms in each subsample Calculated RBP scores for each subsample

RBP Metrics # Taxa # Ephemera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera taxa % Ephemera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera taxa Family Biotic Index – based on tolerance values % Dominant taxon (diversity measure) Ratio of scrapers to filterers % Shredders Community Loss Index – comparison to reference site Maximum Score = 48 Score is then expressed as a percentage of reference site score.

Common Macroinvertebrates Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) Baetidae EphemerellidaeHeptageniidae Isonychiidae (Adult)

Common Macroinvertebrates Stoneflies (Plecoptera) Perlidae Peltoperlidae Perlodidae (Adult)

Common Macroinvertebrates BrachycentridaePhryganeidae Hydropsychidae Philopotamidae Caddisflies (Trichoptera) Case(Adult)

Common Macroinvertebrates Damselflies and Dragonflies (Odonata) True Bugs (Hemiptera) Dobsonflies, Alderflies and Fishflies (Megaloptera) Beetles (Coleoptera)

Field Day: Streamside Biosurvey Simple method for macroinvertebrate collection and analysis Includes macroinvertebrate collection and habitat characterization procedures Practice identifying macroinvertebrates with keys

Acknowledgements  USDA CSREES New England Water Quality Program  Dr. Art Gold  Dr. Patrick Logan  Maria Aliberti  Sara daSilva THANKS! BENTHOS ARE COOL